Europe top stories: weekly summary
ICIS Editorial
12-Feb-2024
LONDON (ICIS)–Here are some of the top stories from ICIS Europe for the week ended 9 February.
INSIGHT: Europe gets gas
cost relief but poor demand, overcapacity weigh
heavy
With natural gas prices potentially falling
towards pre-Russia-Ukraine war levels and
possibly below, European chemical manufacturers
may soon be rid of the competitive cost
disadvantage which has dogged them for several
years.
Europe TiO2 market
relaxed about Venator Duisburg closure, longer
term impact to be assessed
Reaction to Venator’s imminent closure of its
standard TiO2 Duisburg, Germany plant is muted
so far, as it had been widely expected for some
time and underlying demand remains fragile.
Europe toluene demand
forecasts better than those for downstream
markets and TDI
After a slow start for toluene bulk demand and
that of toluene diisocyanate (TDI) along with
major end user sectors in Europe downstream in
2024, sentiment is more bullish for the former
market versus the latter two.
Germany chemical
production falls to lowest level since
1995
Germany’s chemical production fell 10.6% in
2023, dropping to its lowest level since 1995,
the country’s federal statistics agency said.
Eurozone construction
sees sharpest decline since mid-2020 in
January
The eurozone construction sector remained in
contraction territory in January, with
conditions chilling further during the month on
the back of weak demand and declines across key
markets, with little sign of recovery this
year.
European PE/PP spot
prices continue to rise as contract offers in
triple digits
European spot polyethylene (PE) and
polypropylene (PP) prices are still on an
uptrend this week, while February contract
offers have been made in the triple digits.
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